Arcade Fire Takes Over Saturday Night Live And NBC With A Delightfully Bizarre Music Special

Arcade Fire took 30 Rock (and NBC) by storm last night. They performed two new songs on Saturday Night Live and then after the show was over, NBC let them air an original special that featured trippy visuals, celebrity guests like James Franco and Ben Stiller, and three additional new tracks. Oh, and the band cropped up in a sketch. All in all, it was quite a night for the Canadian band.

Arcade Fire first popped up in a sketch that asked host Tina Fey to decide who was a member of Arcade Fire and who was one of the show’s six new cast members. Immediately following that, the band played their new single “Reflektor.” Later in the evening, they treated the crowd to a costume change and their song, “Afterlife.”

After Saturday Night Live was over, a 30-minute special ran that featured three new songs, “Here Comes The Nighttime,” “We Exist,” and “Normal Person.” The special itself played like a Stefon bit brought to life. It had Bill Hader, a club called The Salsateque, people wearing big paper mache hats, an awkward Zach Galifiankis bit, a dance number, Michael Cera speaking Spanish, a centaur and Rainn Wilson. It was insane, but it was also quite the treat for Arcade Fire fans.

All in all, it makes us wonder if next week’s host and musical guest, Miley Cyrus will try to top it with a strange spectacle of her own.